Tents & Shelters

Tents, shelters and shade for every kind of trip. Pop ups for festivals, dome tents for family weekends, and beach shelters for days by the coast.

Finding the right tent or shelter for your trip

Most people do not start by deciding what kind of tent they want. They start with a trip: a festival in July, a week in Cornwall with the kids, a day at the beach. The shelter follows from that, and it is a much easier decision made in that order.

If speed matters most, our pop up tents spring into shape in seconds and pack into a flat round bag, which is why they end up in so many festival fields. If you need room to sleep, sit up and keep bags dry over a longer stay, our family and dome tents give you headroom and a double skin to keep condensation off you.

Not every trip needs somewhere to sleep. Our beach shelters and sun shades are built for daytime shade and a spot out of the sun, and our compact gazebos give a group somewhere covered to sit and eat, on a pitch or in the garden. Windbreaks do a quieter job: they block wind at ground level, which makes a bigger difference to how a beach day feels than most people expect.

Whatever you pitch, it is worth keeping spare pegs, guy ropes and groundsheets in the boot. Pegs bend, ground is harder than you expect, and a missing one is a small problem that ruins an evening.

Ours are practical tents at sensible prices, made for the camping most people actually do: weekends, festivals and family holidays in British weather. Once the shelter is sorted, add a sleeping bag and camping mat for the night, camping chairs for outside it and a camping lantern for when it gets dark.

FAQs

Which type of camping tent should I choose?

Start with the trip rather than the tent. Pop up tents suit festivals and short stays where speed matters. Dome tents suit family camping and longer trips where you want space and weather protection. Beach shelters and gazebos are for daytime shade rather than sleeping, and windbreaks go alongside any of them.

What else do you need besides the tent?

A sleeping bag and a camping mat are the two that make the difference between sleeping and not sleeping. Beyond that, a lantern or head torch, a few spare pegs and something to sit on outside will cover most trips. Build up from there rather than buying everything at once.

Are Summit tents suitable for first time campers?

That is who a lot of the range is built for. Our tents are designed to be straightforward to pitch without a second pair of hands or a set of instructions you cannot follow in the dark. If it is your first trip, a practice pitch in the garden beforehand is the single most useful thing you can do.

How do you clean and store a tent between trips?

Brush off mud and grass, sponge any marks with plain water rather than detergent, and make sure it is completely dry before it goes in the bag. Packing a tent away damp is what causes mould and that musty smell. Store it loosely in a cool dry place rather than crushed under heavy kit.

Do camping tents need reproofing?

Eventually, yes. The water repellent finish on a flysheet wears with use and UV exposure, so a tent that shrugged off rain in its first season may start to wet out after a few years. If water soaks into the fabric rather than beading off it, that is the sign it is due.

Where will your next adventure take you?

Whatever you've got planned; a long weekend under the stars, a festival in a field, or a once-in-a-lifetime expedition; we're here to help you make the most of it.

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